O.B.T. , you have yet to let me down...

  It's 9pm on a Saturday, just got home from work. Take a quick shower, and start getting ready for tonight's exciting event. It's been on his mind all afternoon and all night. At first you might be thinking, "He's in his 20's, its Saturday night, its before midnight, he must be talking about some bar or some club". Erroneous! you forgot that he's a line cook, and food is his passion. Whether it's making it, talking about it, thinking about it, reading about it, or simply eating it; this young man has sacrificed his own body for the sake of what he loves. Yes my friends, tonight's main event is dinning out at your not-so-obvious choice, the "grease trucks" or food trucks as they are more commonly known.


  We start the night by meeting up at our usuall rendez-vous (7-11 gas station, corner of Central Fl. Pkwy and OBT), Brian gets the preferred drink of choice ( insert a name of any delicious microbrewed beer here), and with cash in eager and hungry hands, we carpool to our night's destination. (Did I mention they only accept cash?). We arrive at about a quarter till' midnight, and as you wouldn't expect it, the place is already packed. An array of lights, cars and people are seen everywhere. You would think it was a mini carnival of some sort. Next order of business, figuring out what delicious morsel to purchase and ingest.

  First spot: we walk up to this pretty decent looking truck, we see a puertorrican and colombian flag waving and decide, we will give this one a try. Upon reading the menu we quickly realize that the items on that menu were pretty much on our menu the week before. Against our advice, my sister (seen in above pic) decides to get a beef empanada. Much to her disappointment, it fell short of delicious. At a glance it was small, and looked pretty dry and dense, unlike the empanadas myself and Brian had the week before at a different location. Her palate confirmed our suspicions. We quickly jet'd outta there. Next!!

  Second spot: Next we arrive at our second location, the arepas truck. Simple menu, simple items, and a long line indicate to us that these guys probably know what they are doing. I approach and request a simple arepa (Click to learn more...Do it), filled with shredded beef and queso blanco (similar to a mexican queso fresco), so simple I figured it cannot let me down. Sure enough, at first bite, you feel the crispy corn cake and the oh-so-tender shredded beef, followed by the slightly salty cheese, and you realize soon why people flock to these guys at such hours of the night. It's salty, juicy, beefy, and corny and when combined with their house sauce, its pretty much a meaty heaven that you would want to die to visit over and over again until eventually St. Peter would get tired of seeing your face at the pearly gates and deny your preferred customer pass.

    Third spot: Ah, a taste of the old country for me. What do you know it, with as few El Salvadoreans in this city, we stumbled across a Salvadorean food truck. Lucky everyone who was with us that night is what I say. I approach the vendors and ask for two specials with the works and a drink for my buddy Brian. Oh is he in for a treat. We each get a plate of pupusas, which is prretty much a staple in our everyday cuisine. This particual pupusa was filled with a soft mozzarella-like cheese, refried beans and cooked, then fried, then mashed chicharron (fried pork skin and fatback). All this stuffed inside a super delicate corn tortilla and topped with a pickled cabbage concoction, similar to korean kim-chee, minus the killer spice.

All that remains of my pupusa.

   We both basically inhale this hot mess, and wash it all down with another traditional item in El Salvadorean cuisine, the infamous horchata ( rice, almond, cinnamon, tigernut and sugar beverage). Its clean and crisp, and its just what you need to wash away the greasy feeling in your mouth after having devoured our pupusas.

   Fourth spot: Take a wild guess? Yet another arepa truck, this one looks like its going to be a winner as well. We order a basic chicken arepa ( chicken being a protein we almost neglected that night), filled with tomatoes, cilantro, cheese and again their specialty house sauce, and its another instant hit. The garlic'y flavor of the stewed/pulled chicken, plus the freshness of the tomatoes and cilantro salsa are to die for. Makes your tastes buds do a double, maybe even a triple take. Needless to say, its gone and ingested in about 2 minutes flat!

Chicken and cheese arepa. Nirvana.

   Fifth spot: Did i forget to mention that this is all in one night? Yes, I know, we are food beasts, so what! We enter our final destination of the evening, a small hole-in-the-wall taqueria named Tacos del Rio. This is where the night gets really interesting as the items that appear on their menu are a little left field from the usual taco faire. Tonight's taco travesty is offals, headcheese, and cheeks.

Clockwise from left: Tripe, headcheese, and eye tacos.

Washing it all down with Sidral(apple cider soda) and tamarind Jarritos.

  Now I don't know for sure, but Brian claims that these babies were delicious and unlike anything youve ever experienced. As much as I wanted to join him and try them, for now I will have to take a rain check. I decided to opt for the most common options: carnitas, adobo, barbacoa, and chorizo.

Carnitas Taco.

  I have to say I've tried different tacos in different places in town, but the carnitas at Del Rio are simply the tastiest I've had so far. The chorizo and adobo tacos are also pretty amazing themselves, both these are spicy, bold, and very authentic. One can either have them solo, or a-la-mode topped with an array of salsas, sauces, n vegetables like pico de gallo, onions and cilantro, fresh cut limes, radishes, and cabbage. To quench your thirst, they offer a variety of "aguas frescas" or fresh juices,  like tamarind, jamaican flower, or the classical mexican horchata.
 
  All in all, one can agree that this city hides a lot of tasty surprises in the least obvious of places. Served to you by the most unique people, in the most of unique of locations. Some nights you might find the best meal you've ever had, and some nights you might be disappointed. Personally, I think that's the fun of it, the experiences, and good times that you will encounter while trying to make our own discoveries. To find the best in your town, you might want to take the path less traveled next time.
-Frank G.